A Tribute

Hello all! First of all, Earl is fine. Mostly he's in a tizzy which I think has been affecting his health somewhat. I've made it clear to him that from now until after Saturday, there will be no illness and no injuries! Tomorrow he will be graduating from community college with three degrees! This is part of the invitation I created in Word for the party we're having on Saturday:

He is so very excited! To fully appreciate why this is such a big deal, you have to understand a little bit about Earl. I always say he was raised by wolves. He grew up believing that he was worthless and would never accomplish anything. After dropping out of high school, he started working full-time at Taco Bell. He knew that not having his H.S. was a disadvantage so he got his G.E.D. After that, he still felt inadequate so he enrolled in adult school and got his real High School Diploma. It was there that he was encouraged to think about college. Still not believing in his own potential, he moved to Oregon and got involved in a bad relationship. After returning to California, he did enroll in community college, but he wasn't holding any big dreams in his head. Mostly he was just challenging himself to see if he could do well.

At first, it was pretty hard- he didn't have a lot of experience with good learning habits. Life (me and Max for example!) got in the way a few times, but as the years went by, he grew to be a better and better learner and his grades were showing it. Last year, a counselor pointed out to him that he had a lot of units! He could just about have a degree or two if he would take a few more general education classes. Well, as you know, that's what we've been doing this spring. So all I can say now is: Yay Earl! I'm so proud of him. The next step- a bachelor's degree! I think he is also seriously considering persuing his Land Surveyor's license.

Whatever he decides to do, I think now he knows that he CAN do it. Yes, he can!